Unseen Passage for Class 5 – Mixed
Reading tip (Scan, then read closely): Read the passage once for the main idea. Scan for the key word of the question. Read that sentence closely and choose the option it proves.
NameDateTime takenScore ___ / 12
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1.Every morning, Rupa rows a boat across the wide river in her village in Assam. Before, children had to wait for a ferry that came only twice a day. Many of them missed school. Rupa had grown up rowing with her father, who was a boatman. She decided to take the children across herself. She leaves at seven every morning and comes back for them at three. She asks for no money. Parents say their children have not missed a day since.
How much money does Rupa ask for? (a) Fifty rupees (b) Ten rupees (c) None (d) A little -
2.The Rann of Kutch is a huge salt desert in Gujarat. During the monsoon, it is flooded with sea water. When the water dries up in winter, a thick white layer of salt is left behind. On a full-moon night, the white land seems to glow. Every winter, a festival called Rann Utsav is held there. Visitors stay in tents and enjoy folk music and crafts. Flamingos come to the wetlands nearby to breed. Wild asses, found almost nowhere else, also live in this area.
Which birds come nearby to breed? (a) Peacocks (b) Flamingos (c) Parrots (d) Eagles -
3.Ammini Amma lived beside a river in Kerala but never learned to swim. When she was sixty, floods came to her village. She was scared and had to be rescued in a boat. After the floods, she decided to learn swimming. Every morning, she practised in the river with a young coach named Arun. Within three months, she could swim across the river. Now, at sixty-five, she teaches swimming to village children for free. She says it is never too late to learn.
How long did she take to swim across the river? (a) Three months (b) One year (c) One month (d) Two weeks -
4.Imran’s school started a vegetable garden behind the library. Each class got a small patch of land. Class 5 planted tomatoes, spinach and beans. Imran watered the plants every day during the lunch break. One week, insects began to eat the spinach leaves. The teacher showed them how to spray water mixed with neem. The insects went away. In winter, the class cooked a spinach soup for the whole school.
What did the insects eat? (a) Neem leaves (b) Spinach leaves (c) Tomatoes (d) Beans -
5.Every Saturday, the children of Green Lane Colony cleaned their park. Some picked up plastic wrappers. Others swept the dry leaves into heaps. Gurpreet made a big sign that said, “Keep Our Park Clean.” Her friend Aditya painted the old benches blue. Soon, people stopped throwing litter in the park. The colony secretary gave the children a basket of fruit. Now the park is the cleanest in the town.
When did the children clean the park? (a) Every Sunday (b) Every Saturday (c) Once a month (d) Every evening -
6.Ramesh was a cobbler who sat under a neem tree near the bus stand in Nagpur. He mended shoes and bags from morning till night. He earned very little, but he saved a few coins every day in a tin box. His dream was to send his daughter, Pooja, to college. Pooja studied hard under the street lamp after helping her father. When she finished school, Ramesh opened the tin box. There was enough money for her first year at college. Today Pooja is a nurse.
Where did he save coins? (a) Under his mat (b) In a bag (c) In a bank (d) In a tin box -
7.Noor Bano learned sewing from her grandmother in Lucknow. After her husband fell ill, she needed to earn money for the family. She started stitching school uniforms on an old sewing machine at home. Her work was neat, and soon many parents came to her. She taught five women from her lane to sew as well. Together, they opened a small shop called Noor Stitches. Now they make uniforms for three schools. Noor Bano says that a skill grows when it is shared.
What did she stitch at first? (a) Curtains (b) Bags (c) School uniforms (d) Wedding dresses -
8.Bihu is the main festival of Assam. There are three Bihus in a year, linked to the seasons of farming. Rongali Bihu, in April, marks the Assamese New Year and the start of spring. Young people perform the lively Bihu dance in bright clothes. The beat of the dhol and the sound of the pepa, a buffalo-horn pipe, fill the air. People give one another a gamosa, a white cloth with red borders. Homes make sweets called pitha from rice. Bihu is a time to welcome new crops and new hope.
What is a gamosa? (a) A rice sweet (b) A drum (c) A white cloth (d) A dance -
9.Deepa wanted to bake a cake for her mother’s birthday. She had never baked before. Her neighbour Aunty Rosa offered to help her. They mixed flour, sugar, butter and eggs in a big bowl. Deepa added some cocoa to make it a chocolate cake. The cake baked in the oven for forty minutes. The kitchen smelled wonderful. When Mother came home, Deepa shouted, “Surprise!” Mother was so happy that she hugged both of them.
Why did Deepa bake a cake? (a) A festival (b) Her own birthday (c) A school party (d) Mother’s birthday -
10.Meera’s class was planning a trip to the zoo. Everyone had to bring a water bottle and a cap. On the day of the trip, it was very hot. Meera saw that her friend Salma had forgotten her cap. Meera had two caps in her bag, so she gave one to Salma. At the zoo, they watched the tigers sleep in the shade. They also fed the deer with leaves. On the bus home, Salma thanked Meera for the cap.
What were the tigers doing? (a) Eating meat (b) Sleeping in the shade (c) Running around (d) Swimming -
11.Tsering Dorje was an electrician in a small village in Ladakh. In winter, the village often lost power for days. Tsering learned how to set up solar panels at a training camp in Leh. He fixed panels on the roof of the village school first. Now the classrooms have lights even on the coldest days. Then he helped every home in the village get a solar lamp. Children can study after dark. The villagers call him the man who brought the sun indoors.
What did every home get? (a) A heater (b) A radio (c) A solar lamp (d) A fridge -
12.Kamala Devi grew up in a village in Bihar where there were no books. She learned to read only after she got married, with help from her daughter. Reading made her feel she could see the whole world. In 2005, she cleared one room of her house and filled it with old books. She asked people in the town to give away books they did not need. Soon, children came every evening to read and do homework. Today the library has over three thousand books. The village calls her “Kitab Amma”.
Where did Kamala Devi grow up? (a) In a village in Bihar (b) In a town in Assam (c) In Delhi (d) In a city in Bihar
Answer key
- None
- Flamingos
- Three months
- Spinach leaves
- Every Saturday
- In a tin box
- School uniforms
- A white cloth
- Mother’s birthday
- Sleeping in the shade
- A solar lamp
- In a village in Bihar
Free reading comprehension lessons, practice and worksheets at talentjr.in/reading-comprehension